


Love You Goodbye

by GritaChita



Category: The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Minewt AU, minewt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-24
Updated: 2015-12-27
Packaged: 2018-05-03 03:50:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5275445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GritaChita/pseuds/GritaChita
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There was a tale about purpose and soulmate. Each person in the world was meant to do something.<br/>People were born immortal with three things they should do, permanently written on their wrist. The third thing on the list was the most important. When they managed to cross them off, their immortal life would be gone and immediately they would find their soulmate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I Know You Care

There was a tale about purpose and soulmate. Each person in the world was meant to do something. Their fate was permanently written on their wrist where no one else could see it if it hadn't been crossed yet. People were born immortal with three things they should do. The third thing on the list was the most important. When they managed to cross them off, their immortal life would be gone and immediately they would find their soulmate. Two souls who were bound to be together always had their third thing crossed in the same time. The sting would hurt the most compared to the previous ones, but no one could complain either.

Except it wasn't a tale at all.

It happened in real world. Some people were lucky enough to meet their soulmates on the young age. Some was known for waiting for half a century.

Minho believed that he was one of the unlucky ones. He would be celebrating his 28th birthday this year and yet he hadn't met his soulmate. Hell, he hadn't even crossed off any of his purposes. Everyday he'd wake up with a funny feeling in his stomach because of it and his wrist felt heavier.

That day was nothing different. He woke up, skipping the part where he usually reread the words on his wrist – _give, run, confess_ – and went straight to the bathroom. It was his day off and he made a promise to go for brunch with Newt, his best friend since he was six. He used to hope that Newt was his soulmate, but then again Newt had two of three words crossed from his list.

The first one happened when the Newtons moved to United States right next to the Parks' house. Frank and Sophia Park brought Minho to say hi to the new neighbour. But Joanna Newton, Newt's mother, said that her son had been crying since they arrived because one of his words had been crossed. Minho, being a nice boy he was, asked Joanna politely if he could visit the boy and maybe talk to him. Joanna smiled warmly and told Olivia, Newt's sister, to take Minho to the backyard where little Newt was sadly sitting in the swing. Surprisingly, Newt wasn't startled when Minho sat to the swing next to him.

“Did it hurt that bad?” Minho asked as he began swinging slowly. Newt turned to look the boy next to him and nodded. Little-Minho felt sad for Newt who had red eyes and damp cheeks. He asked again, “May I see it?”

Newt stared at him for a pretty long time and Minho was ready to apologize for his rudeness when Newt murmured, “Yeah.”

The dark-haired boy jumped of the swing to stand in front of Newt as the blonde held his arm. Minho took the arm in his hands and took a look at it carefully. The cursive word _move_ was there, along with a straight line crossing it off. Around the line, Minho also could see the red mark which meant it was probably still hurting his new friend.

“What's your name? I'm Minho Park, I live next door,” Minho talked as he started stroking Newt's wrist. He talked and talked about his life, about a bedtime story his mom made up, about the day his dad burnt the kitchen when he tried to cook for his mother's birthday, about any other thing he could remember as a six years old boy. And Newt listened, forgetting the pain in his wrist. Minho was talking about Mario Kart when Newt cut him off, “Isaac.”

Minho was surprised, “I'm sorry?”

“My name's Isaac,” Newt's voice was cracked and shaky, but Minho grinned. He stroked the wrist for one last time before tugging Newt's hand as he led the boy back to the house.

The second one happened on the day they graduated from high school. Isaac had grown as Newt, as how Minho used to tease him. Newt was no longer a cry baby as he used to be, but being separated to his best friend successfully made him cry for good. Minho even shed a tear or two. He was moving to New York, taking prelaw program at Cornell University while Newt was going to take biology at UCLA. It was by far the furthest distance they had ever been, so it was acceptable that Newt cried.

Minho noticed the familiar red mark in Newt's wrist when he tugged the blonde's hands from covering his red face after crying. He raised his eyebrow as if asking some explanation from Newt.

“It started last night,” Newt said in between his tears. Minho just nodded and stroked his friend's wrist softly like he did when they first met. Newt winced a little, the mark was pretty new and the sting was still lingering there.

Minho twisted Newt's arm a little to see what the word said and he didn't know why suddenly his heart broke. _Love_. Newt was in love with someone, and Minho was sure as hell that it wasn't him. Minho's breath hitched. He immediately hugged his friend and buried his face into Newt's golden locks before Newt could see his teary face. But the scent of Newt made him realize how much he loved Newt more than anyone, _anything_. But Newt had loved someone who wasn't him, so he broke down into tears. Newt, who didn't realize that Minho cried for an entirely different reason, hugged him back as Minho whispered with a cracked voice, “I'll miss you, Newt.”

* * *

 

College had been hard. They didn't even meet each other until Newt graduated and moved to New York to work for Manhattan Labs as a researcher. They were trying to find a cure for the new virus, the Flare. Newt claimed that four years separated from each other couldn’t change their friendship, and he didn’t want to stay away from his best friend anymore. Minho finished his law school a year after that. But somehow he didn't take the job offer from The Blanch Law Firm and applied to NYPD instead.

It had been about 5 years since then, Newt had become the leader of the research team and Minho had been chosen to work under one of the smartest detective in NYPD, Detective Vince Pepper. And now there they were, sitting on a booth at a diner near Newt's apartment.

Minho almost finished his meal when the long-time curiosity struck him, so he asked his friend, “So, Newt, do you still love her?”

“Huh?” Newt raised his head to look at Minho before asking, “Her who?”

“When we were 18, when your love word was crossed?”

Newt's lips formed a perfect inaudible O as he blushed. He cleared his throat, “It's him, not her.”

“Oh?” _Fantastic, why does it still hurt again? Or rather, why does it hurt more knowing that it's a guy?_ Minho asked himself. Newt's cheek turned pink more than before as he added, “And yeah, I still love him.”

_Great, shucking great_ , Minho thought. He gave the blonde a small smile before asking again, “Are you still not gonna tell me who he is?”

“Nope, not until I find my soulmate,” Newt chuckled.

“How are you so sure that he isn't the one?”

“I don't know, but there's no sign that he is either, so,” Newt shrugged easily and grinned. Minho laughed half-heartedly with him and decided that he wanted to talk about other things. He didn't push Newt and he didn’t really want to hear more, even when he was the one who asked in the first place. So he continued his meal and asked Newt about his week instead.

* * *

 

It was weeks after later and Minho was working late in his office in NYPD headquarter when he got a call from an unknown number.

“Hello,” He picked up. The woman who called him immediately asked, “Good evening, sir, may I speak to Mr. Minho Park?”

“Yeah, this is him, who is this?”

“My name is Brenda Salazar. I am calling on behalf of Lincoln Medical Center to inform you that your friend Mr. Isaac Newton got into a very bad accident at the 138th and you were listed as his emergency contact. So, can you come here, sir?”

Minho went silent as soon as the woman, Brenda, told him that Newt was in accident. The thought about losing the blonde crossed his mind. No, he couldn't lose Newt. He was busy calming himself when Brenda asked again, “Mr. Park, hello? Are you there?”

Minho's eyes were back to his focus. He cleared his throat as he collected his belongings into his bag, “Yeah, is he okay?”

What came next from Brenda's lips wasn't close to anything he hoped for.

“I will explain it all when you get here, sir, but I'm afraid he is in a critical condition.”


	2. Like I'm Gonna Lose You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone, please insert your own summary here, I'm terrible at making summary - and story, but whatever. Enjoy!

Minho had been running all his life. Most of the time, he ran with Newt. They were fast enough compared the other kids in school. But this time though, he ran to Newt, with the fastest speed he'd ever done in his life. It didn't take him more than fifteen minutes before he reached the hospital. Brenda was kind enough to wait for him near the information center so he didn't have to bark off the nurse who was working there to tell him where Newt was.

They were walking through the hallway as Brenda began talking, “I hope you don't mind waiting to hear about the accident, because right now he has lost so much blood and I hope you can help us by giving a list of Mr. Newton's relative’s name who could possibly donor their blood for him.”

“I'll do it!” Minho said without missing a beat. Brenda was about to ask Minho's blood type when the man added, “You can check me first, but I'm pretty sure it will match. Let me do it.”

Brenda just nodded and led Minho to one of the empty room. A few minutes later, he could feel his blood flowing to the transfusion package.

* * *

 

“He's gonna be okay, right?” He asked Brenda once he was out of the transfusion room. The nurse's jaw clenched and she looked down, “The doctors are doing everything they can. Please, have a seat, Mr. Park.”

“The last time I knew, he is still immortal, Nurse Salazar. He can't die! Why do they take so many times to save him? What the worst can happen to him?” Minho snapped making Brenda took a step back. But then she saw Minho's eyes just to find sorrow. She took Minho's arm and led him to sit on one of the chairs before saying, “The doctors are trying there, Mr. Park, so is Mr. Newton. It is up to him if he wants to stay alive or not, because if deep down he doesn't want to be alive, we can't really do anything. He won't die, but he will be in a coma until he decides to be back here with us, or until his soulmate comes and ends his misery.”

For the first time after ten years, Minho cried. He was afraid if he was not enough to make Newt stayed, he was afraid that Newt didn’t want to stay. His sobs turned into a groan as a jolt of pain struck his arm, or rather, his wrist. _His wrist_. Brenda immediately turned her face back to nurse-face and immediately examined Minho's wrist. She gasped, because what she saw was something weird, something unusual.

A new mark in X shape was forming on top of one of Minho's words, _give_ , but then again, they both could see clearly that there was also blood there. _The mark was bleeding_. Minho sucked in a sharp breath while Brenda called the other nurse to prepare a room to patch Minho. The man followed Brenda to the room and soon after he laid his body on the bed, he blacked out.

* * *

 

Minho's eyes snapped open when he heard someone open the door. It was Brenda, and an old guy who Minho assumed was a doctor there. The doctor took a look at Minho's wrist and said, “I know you have a lot of questions, so please ask away. My name is Dr. Esposito, but you can call me Jorge, and I'll answer your questions as best as I can.”

“How is Newt?” Minho immediately asked the one thing he had in mind. The doctor, Jorge, smiled sadly as if he expected the question from Minho. He answered, “Dr. Taylor and her team have finished the surgery, it will take some time for him to heal. It may take days for him to wake up, even. But from our observation, he's gonna stay with us.”

“Good, that's good, right?” Minho felt relieved before the pain in his wrist came back again to him. He stared at the word before asking Jorge, “Why did it bleed? Is it normal? My friend's first time didn't bleed.”

“Now we're talking,” Jorge said. He sat on a chair beside Minho’s bed and took a look at Minho’s wrist before explaining, “First of all, it happened to some people, the special ones, so it's pretty normal. But it usually happened for the third word when people would meet their soulmate.”

“Okay, so why did it happen for my first one?”

“I don't know, honestly,” Jorge shrugged and added, “But you'll be fine, Mr. Park. Now get some rest, okay? We'll wake you up if Mr. Newton makes some progress.”

With that, the doctor left, and Brenda was about to leave as well when Minho called, “Nurse Salazar?”

“Do you need anything, Mr. Park?”

“Yeah, just call me Minho. And I believe you haven't told me about the accident,” Minho said as he tried to move his body to a sitting position.

“Ah yes,” She put his patient board on the table and helped Minho before adding, “It's actually a hit and run accident.”

Minho stilled, “Wait, what?”

“Yes, Mr. Newton's friend, Ms. Harriet Emmanuel, called us to send an ambulance. She was here as well, but as soon as we could get a hold of you, she left because of a family issue,” Brenda took a seat where Jorge sat before and continued, “We also called NYPD as well to look for the car that hit him, but the officer said it might take a couple days to track them down.”

Minho's eyes perked at the mention of his office, “Who was the officer's name?”

“It's officer Latimore. He said –” She stopped her words when she saw Minho gathering his belonging with him, “Wait, Minho, where are you going?”

“I need to make a phone call or two outside, call me if Newt wake up, okay?”

“Oh, yeah, okay?” Brenda answered unsurely as the man left her.

* * *

 

“Hello?” The sleepy voice from the woman on other side made Minho feel guilty for calling that late. “Joanna?”

“Minho?”

“Sorry, did I wake you?”

“No, it's fine. Is everything okay?”

“It's Isaac,” His voice cracked upon saying the man’s name. How could he break the horrible news to Newt's mother? He could clearly hear Joanna's breath hitched as she whispered, “What happened?”

Minho filled her with all the information he had, which was not much. But that was the least he could do. Joanna's voice was shaky but firm when she said, “We're heading there first thing in the morning.”

“Okay, I'll be here.”

“And Minho?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you, I'll see you soon, okay?”

Minho mumbled a yeah and bye before he hang up. He still had one more call to make.

“Detective Sheffield on duty, how can I help you?”

“Ben, I need your help,” He almost yelled when he heard Ben's tired voice. He could practically hear Ben shuffling in his chair before his partner asked, “Minho? How's Newt? Where are you?”

“He's still unconscious, and I'm outside the hospital. I need you to do me a favour, please, Ben.”

“Shoot.”

So Minho explained. He told him what happened to Newt, he told him what Brenda told him, he told Ben everything. Because Minho trusted Ben and he couldn't ask anyone else in the office other than him. Ben, who had been his partner since they were just officers in probation days, would understand and Minho was hoping Ben could help him.

He'd never been so grateful for their friendship when Ben responded, “Okay, got it. I'll call you after I gather some information.”

* * *

Minho was about to go back into the hospital when his phone rang, indicating a call from an unknown number, “Hello, who's this?”

“Minho! It's Olivia, mom just called me,” Minho's eyes perked up as he heard the caller, “Oh, hey, Liv. Yeah, sorry I don't have your number in my phone.”

“It's fine, I just want to ask since I couldn't be there,” Minho was ready to fill the woman with the same information about Newt he just told to Joanna and Ben, but the question coming from her was not the one he expected in the first place, “Are you okay?”

If anyone could understand Minho almost as well as Newt did, it was Olivia. She was the protective older-sister he never had. And even though sometimes they annoyed each other, Olivia was always there for him. One time when he was in college, she called just to ask if he loved Newt the way he should love his future soulmate, which he did. He tried to lie to her, but she just didn't buy it. She even made a promise to herself that she'd keep look for him and her brother, a promise that she’d proven she kept until now.

“Minho,” Olivia called his name again making him realized that she needed an answer. So he lied, again, “Yes.”

The woman asked again, but with annoyance in her tone knowing that the man lied, “Really?”

“I– I will be,” He hated that he stuttered, but he didn't really know the answer for himself, what could he tell her anything than that? He could hear Olivia sighed sadly and said, “Look, I'm a phone call away if you need anything, okay?”

“Yeah, thanks Liv. Say hi to Harry from me,” Minho said before hanging up the call.

* * *

It was late afternoon on the day after when Joanna called him to inform that they had arrived in New York. Minho had no idea that his parents would come as well. He gave Newt's parents a quick hug before hugging his mother tightly. Minho was far too big compared to his mother, but both didn't care. But then he felt his father hand patting his back, and he burst out his tears. Minho felt like a kid again for crying to his parents in the middle of a public place. But he didn't seem to care, he needed it.

The tears were slowing down when Joanna said, “You should go home.”

Minho pulled himself from his mother's embrace and shook his head instead of answering; he still couldn't trust himself to talk. The blonde's mother smiled sadly, “You go home with your parents, and you come back here tomorrow morning. I'm not taking no for an answer.”

Minho was about to argue when his mother added, “Joanna will call us if Isaac wakes up, Minho. Come on, let's get some food and go home.”

They went home and Minho had just finished his shower when he found his mother pacing in his living room, phone hot on her ear.

“Okay,” She said to whoever it was on the other side. Then, “Yeah, I'll tell him. See you tomorrow, Jo.”

“Has he woken up?” Minho asked suddenly startling his mother. Sophia glared at him for that, “Minho.”

“Mom,” Minho glared back, his eyes telling his mom that he wasn't really sorry for startling her. Sophia eventually gave in, “No, he hasn't. But the doctor who did the surgery for Isaac, Dr. Taylor, talked to Sam and Jo.”

“And?”

“And she said Isaac's leg was damaged badly. Even if he recovers after this, he won't be the same again.”

Minho's eyes widened at the words, he almost shouted to his mother, “What is that supposed to mean? That he can't walk again?”

“Oh please, don't be dramatic, Minho. He's gonna walk again of course, but he'll probably have a limp, though,” Sophia waved him with a chuckle as she focused back to her phone. Minho looked at her in disbelieve before turning to his father for backup, “Dad, did you see what she just did?”

Minho had never been so stupid in his life; of course his father was on his mother's side. Frank lowered his book to look Minho in the eyes and sighed, “You need to relax, son. He's a Newton and he has all of us with him, he's gonna be fine.”

“He will, Minho. Now go change to proper clothes, we still need to talk about other things,” Sophia added. Minho was curious, but he was also getting cold for just wearing a towel around his waist so he headed to his room and changed his clothes quickly before going back to the living room.

* * *

Newt woke up about almost a week after the accident and true to her words, Joanna called Minho right away. He was home and he just finished his shower when she called, so he immediately changed his clothes to a presentable one and told his parents that they should come after cleaning up.

“You look nice,” Those three words were the first thing Newt said when he entered the room. Minho shrugged at the comment, “I tried.”

“For me? Yeah, sure,” Minho grinned at Newt who just rolled his eyes, a sign that he was going to be okay. Minho sat on the chair next to Newt's bed and asked, “How are you doing, buddy?”

“Sore. And hungry.”

Newt's pouty face gave it away. And for the first time in a week, Minho laughed.

Later that day, the Newtons and the Parks gathered around in Newt's hospital room, much to the other nurses' disliking. Minho begged Brenda to let them in; they were Newt's family after all. Brenda understood, but only gave him a few minutes.

“Why is everyone here? Is there a party I'm not aware of?” Newt groaned when they all were in the room. Minho grinned from his place next to Newt's bed and flicked his fingers to Newt's forehead. But his mother, of course, had to warn him, “Minho! Isaac is sick!”

“Yeah, Minho, Isaac is sick,” Newt copied Sophia's tone as Minho stuck his tongue out, “Shut up, Isaac.”

Newt made a fake shocked face and said, “Frank, did you see how your son treats his sick friend? He's always mean to me.”

“Hey!” Minho protested as the other adults laughed. He wondered why two 27 years old men could act like kids when their parents were around. _It just felt like home_ , Minho thought.

“But he's kind enough to let you stay, Isaac,” Joanna said when the laughter went down making the young blonde frowned, “What do you mean?”

“Well, Sophia thought that it will be hard for you for a while, so we all agreed that you'll stay with Minho until you get better.”

Minho really wanted to laugh as he looked at Newt's face. It was comical, how he changed his expression from confusion, shock, realization, and finally determination. He knew that Newt was going to object, but his father beat him, “No buts, Isaac, listen to your mother.”

“And you are okay with this?” Newt gave Minho a disgusted look and Minho tried his best to give Newt the sweetest fake smile he had ever mustered, “Sorry, Isaac, but you're stuck with me.”

And the laughter went again.

* * *

“Newt,” Minho called his friend from the kitchen as he fixed their Chinese takeout for dinner. Newt just hummed in acknowledgement from the living room, so he continued, “As much as I despise you staying here in front of our parents, I didn't mean it. You know that right?”

“Yeah, sure,” The blonde replied.

Minho gave him a warning tone as he brought the food, “Newt.”

“You don't seriously think that I'm really upset about that, do you?” Newt raised his eyebrow at his friend. But seeing Minho's expression, he added jokingly, “Come on, Min, if I don't stay here you'll come over to mine every single day.”

“That's exactly what I mean,” Minho muttered as he sat across Newt.

“What are you talking about?”

“We're getting older and you're stuck with me instead of your soulmate, it's just not fair for you.”

“It's not like I know who they are, Min. And as far as I know, you haven't got your words crossed too,” Newt shrugged easily. Minho suddenly felt guilty, “Yeah, about that...”

Newt's eyes followed as Minho looked down to his wrist. He immediately put his supper on the table and motioned Minho to come closer, “Whoa, come here, show me. When did this happen?”

“Uh, when you were in the surgery room?”

Newt took Minho's arm carefully as he read the word. His heart sank, knowing exactly what the word meant, knowing exactly _how_ Minho got the word crossed.

“Min, I –” Newt didn't even know what he wanted to say, so he felt grateful that Minho cut him, “It's nothing.”

Newt didn't look up; his eyes focus on Minho's wrist. He stroked it slowly, just like how Minho used to do it for him. He didn't even realize that tears began swelling up on his eyes, “I'm sorry,”

“Newt, no.”

“I'm sorry I wasn't there for you, did it hurt?”

“The nurse helped cleaning the blood, so I'm good, Newt, seriously,” Minho's words made Newt's hand stopped. Then he looked up to Minho and asked, “It was bleeding too?”

“Too? What are you talking –” Minho's eyes widened in realization. He put Newt's hand aside before grab the blonde's arms, “Newt, why didn't you tell me?”

The blonde just gave Minho a sad smile and shook his head, “Well we were separating at that time. I didn't want you to baby me and I didn't want you to become a burden for you.”

Newt was pretty sure that at least Minho would be angry at his reasons, and he knew he pretty much deserved it. But Minho didn't respond and just stare at him, making him feel anxious, “Minho?”

“If you ever think that again, I'll beat the shit out of you,” Minho said slowly with a low voice. And Newt should be afraid of the man, but he didn't. He chuckled lightly, “Of course you will.”

And to his surprise, Minho pulled him in a hug before taking their abandoned supper and the remote, “Now, let's watch Sherlock, shall we?”

A couple hours later, they finished their meal and their Sherlock. Minho took the plates and brought them to the kitchen as he half-yelled across the room, “How many years again we have to wait for the next one?”

“It's just –” Newt's words were suddenly cut by a loud ring, from Minho's phone on the table. He took it and yelled to the owner, “Min, it's Ben!”

Upon hearing Ben's name, Minho instantly appeared in the living room, took his phone from Newt, and said, “It's probably work thing. I'm gonna head out, and you stay where you are, young man. Don't hurt the leg more than it already has.”

He opened the door as he heard Newt's mocking tone, “Yes, mom~”

* * *

“Hello,” He greeted Ben as he picked the call.

“Minho, hey, are you busy?” Ben sounded ... nervous? _Why did he sound like that?_ Minho thought uneasily. “Nope, what's up?”

“Are you with Newt?” _Uh oh_.

“Uh, no, he's inside. What's going on, Ben?”

“Yeah, so about Newt's accident, I think I've found something. Something bad. Like, really bad.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope it's enough for two weeks! I'd probably have no time to write for the next week due to works, but - yeah.  
> See you, soon?
> 
> Oops, sorry, yes, thank you for coming!


	3. What Hurts The Most

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got an unexpected day off, so I might as well continue this sooner.  
> Please enjoy and thank you for coming! :)

Minho and Ben eventually agreed to meet at Ben’s house. So the next day, Ben sent Sonya to visit Newt at Minho’s apartment and keep the blonde company. The first things he said when Minho came through his door were, “It wasn’t an accident.”

Minho, who was halfway through opening his jacket, stayed still. Ben cursed himself and went to help Minho before putting the jacket over the coat rack. He added, “Sorry, take a seat. I’ll fix us something to drink.”

“What the hell did you mean by ‘it wasn’t an accident’?” Minho yelled as Ben came back with two cups of coffee. They didn’t drink much after spending time without beer on their probation days, but coffee was always necessary.

Ben put the cups on the table before disappearing to what Minho knew as Ben’s work room. A few seconds later, he came back pulling a rolling whiteboard with him. Minho was about to punch the man when Ben sat and took a sip of his coffee instead of start talking.

“You need to calm down, I’m not going to start if you act like this, Minho,” Ben said. Minho looked Ben in the eyes and realized that his friend was right, he was too tense. So he also took a sip from his cup and inhaled a deep breath.

Ben grinned at the sight and began to talk, “You told me that the nurse said it was a hit and run accident right? So the first thing I did was obviously visiting the crime scene. Guess what? I found nothing.”

Minho’s jaw clenched. His voice cracked when he asked Ben, “Did you get any pictures?”

Ben nodded and stood to show Minho his whiteboard. He pointed to the pictures pinned on the top left side of the board, “Here are a few pictures of the road; I checked at least half a mile radius distance from the spot and I couldn’t find any single break-marks.”

“I also watched the footage from the surveillance cameras – I’ll show you later. I saw the car; it was Subaru B9 Tribeca SUV from 2006. I asked Cunningham from the company about the potential owner for that license, but he hasn’t mailed me the list yet. You remembered him, right?” Ben asked Minho who looked like he was about to murder someone. The man just nodded before Ben continued, “Oh, and the worst part? The driver seemed like he didn’t want to hit Newt with his car.”

Minho’s head jerked up at the words, “What do you mean?”

“They tried to shoot Newt, but they missed so they hit Newt instead,” Ben explained as he prepared the footage so Minho could watch it.

True to Ben’s words, Minho could watch the whole scene. He saw Newt and his colleagues – Harriet, Gally, and Sonya – went into Express Brook, a 24/7 diner owned by Minho’s high school friend, Siggy. Then he saw the footage from another camera show a white Subaru stopped at one of the parking spot a couple buildings away from the diner. Minho didn’t see the driver got out of the car, but he did see Gally and Sonya went out from the diner, leaving Newt and Harriet inside. It wasn’t long before he saw Newt leaving the diner as well. He saw Newt crossing the road before dodging away from a tiny bullet coming from the car. He could see Newt trying to run, but the car was faster and hit Newt without mercy before leaving the blonde’s inanimate body behind.

Minho’s fists clenched hard before realizing something, “Ben, he tried to shoot Newt, right?”

“Yeah, why – oh, shuck! Yep, sorry man, I skipped,” Ben said before searching his whiteboard. Once he found the picture and the plastic bag, he pulled it and gave it to Minho, “9x19mm Parabellum, Walther-P38 from –“

“– Germany,” Minho cut Ben’s words. He examined the bullet in the plastic bag and said, “Winston?”

“You know his job, Minho; it wouldn’t be easy to track him down. But, I finally managed to get a hold on him, and I’m gonna meet him this afternoon, actually.”

“I’ll come with you,” Minho said with a stern voice. Ben looked at Minho and nodded, knowing that his friend wouldn’t take no for an answer.

* * *

Their meeting with Winston was rather interesting.

Winston was a professional weapons smuggler. Vince Pepper along with Minho and Ben used to go after him back in the days, but the man proved that he meant no harm with his ‘business’ and even helped the NYPD detectives to track down illegal weapons that usually used on crimes. Winston covered up his ‘business’ by owning an ice cream truck that name’s changed every once in a while. That time, Winston had changed the name into Honey’s Good.

_Winston is known as Winnie and Winnie the Pooh likes honey, so that’s why._ Winston himself reasoned.

But nonetheless, the man once again was willing to help the level-one detectives to look for the gun owner. Winston said there wasn’t many Walther-P38 in the country so he probably needed a day or two to track it down.

Minho separated his way from Ben after finishing their ice cream – Winston didn’t want to talk if they didn’t buy and it didn’t taste too bad – and went to Newt’s apartment to check the blonde’s mails as he was asked before. He scanned all the mails before his eyes fell to a folded paper in the middle of enveloped ones.

He felt like his body did a lot of tense reaction since Newt’s accident and he was kind of used to it. But that didn’t mean that he didn’t ball his fist when he read the letter. It was just like on one of those crime series on TV Minho used to watch at home, actually. The letter was composed using pieces of papers from newspaper and magazines until it formed two short sentences.

_**It’s not over. I’m coming for you, Newton.** _

* * *

Minho didn’t sleep for days, or weeks, maybe. He didn’t really count.

He didn’t tell anyone about the letter, so he had his eyes on Newt as much as he could. Newt was getting better and even though he wasn’t back to work yet, he could go out of the apartment by himself using the crutch. But Minho kept insisting to take him and pick him every time he was out, he even wouldn’t let Newt stay the night by himself. Sonya were curious when Minho asked, almost begged, the girl to take a couple days off from the labs just to stay with Newt at the apartment when Minho had to pull all-nighters at the office. Ben was more so, but he didn’t complain as Sonya was alone as well in their house if he had to work for days.

It was getting harder each time, but he managed to clear his head every time he was at the apartment with Newt or at the office with Ben and Vince. Until one day he felt like he almost lost his insanity when Ben called in sick and Vince was out to do some interrogation for another case. Minho didn’t even do anything in the office, just typing the never-ending reports all day. By the end of the day he was about to punch his computer in front of him out of frustration, but fortunately his phone gave him a new message alert distracting him from breaking his computer.

> _Min, are you off from work? Can you pick me up at Thomas’ bar?_ – Newt

Honestly, Minho had so many questions he wanted to ask Newt – _why was Newt in Thomas’ bar? How did he get there? When did he get there? Whom did he go with? Oh Newt_ , but he’d rather picked the blonde and went home as soon as possible instead of, you know, babying Newt and asking him things. He could do that later at home. So he sent a quick reply before taking his jacket over his shoulder and bidding his goodbye to his co-workers.

Thomas’ bar was a little darker than usual, or so that’s what Minho thought. The lights were dimmed and it didn’t sound so packed from the outside, which was unusual. Thomas’ bar was always full of people barging to get some drinks or just to greet the bubbly owner. The bar was in the corner of the street and didn’t have any window which made it more like home according to Thomas. In fact, as Minho approached the bar, he didn’t hear any sound from inside. As he got closer to the door, he saw the sign ‘Close’ hung loosely.

_Shuck. Newt._

Minho pulled his phone from his pocket before dialling the blonde’s number.

“Hello,” Newt whispered from the other side.  Minho’s body tensed again and he almost yelled, “Newt! Where are you?”

“I’m at Thomas’ bar. Where are you, Min?”

“I _am_ at Thomas’ bar.”

“Impossible, I don’t see you here.”

“I am in front of Thomas’ bar and the sign said it’s close, where the hell are you Newt? It’s not funny.”

“I’m waiting inside, Min, just come in and then we can go home, yeah?” Newt was still whispering before he hung up on Minho.

The man cursed again and stared at the bar’s door. Newt might be in danger inside, along with Thomas and his customers. With one hand hot on top of his gun case in the pocket, he opened the door’s handle. As he expected, it was unlocked.

Nothing, he saw nothing and he heard nothing. It was pitch black and he was so ready to pull out his gun if he saw any movement.

“Newt?” He kind of whispered to the black surroundings. And a second later, he swore to God he was about to die of shock as someone firmly held his arm that was hot for his gun. He almost threw a punch to whoever it was with his other hand when the lights was suddenly on and hoots of shouts attacked his ear.

“SURPRIIISEEEEE!!!”

Minho adjusted his eyes to the lights before realizing that his friends were all grinning ear to ear in front of him. Newt was the closest one and Minho swore the blonde had the brightest grin of all people inside the bar.

“Happy birthday, Min. Surprised?” Newt asked as he took a step closer with his crutch to Minho. He also added, “Thank you, Ben, but you don’t have to hold his hand that long, you know?”

The said man laughed from Minho’s back and pulled his hand off of Minho’s. Ben patted his back, “Sorry, Minho, someone got to hold your hand down before you could pull the trigger to one of our heads. Happy birthday!”

Minho elbowed Ben’s ribs as a response making the audiences laughed. Ben groaned a wordless sentence and Minho was about to give him his famous sassy remark when Newt took another step forward and snatched Minho’s arm, “I believe it’s time for cake.”

“Cake! Yass!!” Thomas’ excited voice came from the bar making Minho laughed. The bar owner had a sweet tooth and everyone wondered why he didn’t open a bakery or a candy shop instead of a bar for at least once. He never gave them a real answer though.

Newt dragged Minho to the bar, Ben and the others tailing behind them. Minho’s face perked up even more to see Teresa, his best friend from law school, standing closely next to Thomas behind the bar. He reached over to hug her and then went to kiss Sonya’s cheek as his thank you when the girl showed up with the birthday cake.

“Happy birthday, Minho,” The girl added sweetly.

The rest of the night filled with smiles and laughs from Minho and his friends. He also insisted Thomas to change the bar sign back to ‘Open’ again so other people could enjoy the night with them. He even got a few birthday wishes from some strangers and they asked him to buy them drinks, but he didn’t really mind. Not when Newt, who was surprisingly sober, stayed next to him the whole night.

They were sitting on one of a booth with Ben and Sonya talking about nothing and everything, when Newt finally noticed something sparkling from Sonya’s hand – which he was sure it wasn’t there earlier, “Hey, Sonya, what is that?”

“What?” The girl wasn’t really good at lying, Minho decided, as she poorly hid the grin. Surely, it didn’t take that long before she burst, “Ben proposed!”

Both Minho and Newt’s eyes widened, Newt towards Sonya with happiness tinkling in his eyes while Minho with amusement and annoyance towards Ben.

“What the hell, man? Why didn’t you tell me anything?” By now Newt had dragged Sonya away to their other friends to show off the ring. Minho himself really wanted to smack Ben’s smug face. The other shot him a goofy grin before masking it into a serious one.

“You were not in a good state, man, I just didn’t want to add more sensation to your twisted life,” Ben said. Minho sighed; of course Ben would worry about him. Ben was such a good friend. But he didn’t say anything, instead he chugged his coke and said with a grin, “You still should’ve told me, slint-head.”

* * *

Weeks later, he was strolling down Manhattan, waiting for Newt who went out with Sonya to meet the wedding planner while Ben was off to take his parents to the airport, when he found a bakery with an interesting architecture – he would never say that it was cute instead of just interesting. He never saw it before so he guessed it was new. Without much thinking, he took a step inside and a sweet smell instantly welcomed him.

A young man in a green apron greeted him, “Welcome to The Love Café!”

“Zart? Zart Adler?” Minho recognized the man before joking, “You and Fry split up or something?”

Fry – short for Frypan, alias for Siggy, the owner of Express Brook – was one of Minho and Newt’s high school friend. He moved to New York on Minho’s second year in college to pursue his dream to open a restaurant. But Siggy didn’t dare to start until he met Minho’s college friend, Zart, who eventually dropped out from law school because, as Minho quoted, _it wasn’t what I wanted all along, it was what my parents wanted_. With Siggy, they started planning the diner until it grew bigger each day. Sometimes Minho felt a pang of jealousy that his good friends got their dreams become true. Minho didn’t even know what his dream was.

Zart’s chuckle snapped Minho from his thought, “Nah, man, this is part of the business. We wanted to sell some sweets but we don’t want to do it in the diner, so yeah, here I am.”

“Wow, that’s amazing! Congrats, dude!” Minho patted Zart’s back a little harder than necessary making the man winced. Minho laughed, “So, tell me. What’s your recommendation?”

Zart showed him around the small store and Minho felt his stomach grumbled at the displays. They all looked delicious. When he finally picked the cinnamon apple pie, Zart asked, “And for Newt?”

“Uh,” Minho paused. He wondered when exactly they became inseparable and predictable. Not that he minded much. Granted, he always felt bad when he felt happy knowing Newt hadn’t met his soulmate yet. But Minho hadn’t too, so why didn’t they enjoy the attention from others, right?

“Do you have scone?” He finally asked without thinking to Newt’s favourite dessert. Zart smiled as he picked a couple of them before turning back to Minho and asked again, “Strawberry jam or blueberry?”

“Strawberry.”

Minho paid the sweets before bidding his goodbye to the baker. He was about to call Newt asking if he and Sonya had finished the meeting when Ben called.

“Benjamin,” Minho greeted. The man chuckled and greeted back, “Hey, Minho, where are you? Parents are off; Sonya said she still has lots of things to talk with the wedding planner. Want to grab coffee?”

“Yeah, sure. Where –“

At that moment Minho was sure that he was the most careless officer in NYPD. How could he not see that someone _was_ watching him from the alley? Surely the moment he passed the alley, that someone gagged Minho’s mouth and dragged him to the dark alley. He was about to turn and punch the masked man, but he wasn’t fast enough as the man stabbed Minho’s right leg with a knife making him losing his balance. He fell down and the man pressed his knee right on Minho’s stomach before pulling a syringe with a green liquid from his pocket.

“Newton is mine,” The man said with a low voice and stabbed the syringe to Minho’s arm making him groan in pain.

As if he wasn’t satisfied with his work, the man made sure to kick Minho’s stomach and landed a punch on Minho’s jaw before leaving the alley.

Minho knew he was going to pass out as soon as whatever it was from the syringe worked inside his body, but he mustered out his strength to reach his phone where he could still hear Ben yelling from the other side.

“Ben,” Minho breathed heavily to the phone. He couldn’t even hear what Ben was saying, so he just told him his location knowing his partner would immediately run to fetch him, “East – east 1, 16th.”

Minho’s breath shortened each second the green liquid worked inside. His view was getting blurry, but he managed to focus on a crushed white box a few feet in front of him. The cursive words ‘The Love Café’ stared back at him, spilling a crushed cinnamon apple pie and the scones out. The jar that contained strawberry jam was broken, the red liquid leaking out as well.

He almost laughed at the sight. Almost. Because it was less than ten minutes ago that he felt jealous of his friends’ dream and wondered what his own dream was. And then there he was, after getting beat up by the man behind Newt’s accident, thinking that he might know what his dream was the entire time.

His thought wandered to the certain blonde before everything went black.


	4. Everything I Do (I Do It for You)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I plan to finish the whole story before the end of the year, so I'll try to fasten my pace. BUT if you fellow readers feel that the story rushed up too quickly please tell me so and I'll try to fix it. Thanks! :)

By the time Minho woke up, all he saw was white. Well, to be specific, a white room. He immediately knew he was in the hospital. The bright light almost blinded him, making him want to cover his eyes before adjusting the light. But he couldn’t even lift his hand. Looking down, he saw golden locks covering the owner’s arms on top of Minho’s hand.

Newt’s sleeping face was full of worry and tiredness. Minho could even see hot tears coming down from the closed eyes. He carefully pulled his hand from underneath Newt’s arms and used his thumb to wipe away a wet trail on Newt’s cheek. The action made the blonde jolted awake. Brown eyes looking back at Minho’s as Newt whispered, “You’re awake.”

The blonde suddenly threw himself on top of Minho and gave his friend a bone-crushing hug making the dark-haired man grunted in pain.

“Oh my God, I’m sorry, I’ll call the nurse,” Newt said as soon as he moved his body. He cursed himself, because how could he forget that Minho was still hurting? _The man was on the hospital bed, for God sake._ But then Minho caught his arm when he was about to go out and call the nurse, saying, “No, Isaac, please, just a moment. Just – just talk to me?”

And Newt did. Minho listened as he watched the way Newt’s face changed from showing a sad smile when he talked about their first meeting, to showing a happy grin when he talked about the time they spent a whole summer swimming at the lake near the Parks’ summer house, and to forming a scrunched face when he talked about how they got sun-burnt really bad that same day.

Newt’s animated face magically made Minho forget the pain on his bad leg, and he really wanted to keep it that way. So when Newt finally asked about what had happened to him, Minho decided not to tell Newt and said it was just another rough burglary case. Thankfully, Newt bought it, or so Minho thought. The blonde didn’t even question Minho when the man asked if Newt could ask Ben to come and have a talk with him.

He spent the rest of the week discussing about Minho’s attacker with Ben. He also finally showed the letter, knowing there’s no point to hide it from his partner. In the meantime, Newt was always out, either with Sonya or visiting the pediatric section of the hospital to do some storytelling, an activity he started doing when he stayed months in the hospital upon the accident. What Minho didn’t know though was that it wasn’t like Newt wanted to go out and leave Minho with Ben. Newt didn’t tell him anything either, not until before the day Minho was supposed to finally go home.

“I can’t wait to go home and sleep on my own bed,” Minho said as he ate his orange while Newt was folding their clothes and began packing it to their bags. He gave Minho a tight smile, “I’ve changed your sheet and stuff, don’t mess it up again, okay?”

Minho just grinned, so Newt added with a lower volume, “Also, I’m moving back to my apartment after you settle down.”

“Wait, what?”

“You hear me, Minho,” Newt said, eyes focusing on the folded clothes on his lap.

“You can’t.”

“Yes, I can, and I will. I’m not a baby anymore, Minho; you don’t need to worry about me.”

“Newt, no, you can’t, you’re going to stay with me and –”

“Stop it!” Newt’s head jerked up as brown eyes stared at Minho. The blonde ran his hand through his hair before saying, “You’ve been trying to get rid of me for a past couple of days, why are you doing this now?”

“I didn’t try to get rid of you.”

Newt scoffed, “Yeah sure you didn’t.”

“Newt, I wasn’t –”

“Then what?!” Newt hissed cutting Minho’s words. He just couldn’t bare it anymore. If Minho didn’t want him, then he’d leave, it was that simple. Newt took a single breath and said, “Even though I was always here, all you wanted was talk to Ben. Every single day, you always kicked me out to talk to Ben.”

“I didn’t –” Minho tried to reason, but Newt suddenly snapped, “Then why didn’t you tell me everything?!”

The staring contest between them began again, now with the thicker air around them. Minho didn’t understand what was happening to Newt at all, _what was the blonde implying exactly?_ “Newt?”

Newt swallowed hard. Putting aside the clothes, he muttered, “I knew you since we were six, Minho, have you ever thought that by now I know when you’re bloody lying to me? Why are you lying to me, Minho?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh please,” Newt did a lot of scoffing lately, and all was because of Minho. He was so done talking to Minho. His supposed-to-be-best-friend didn’t even treat him as a best friend anymore. And their conversation wasn’t going anywhere; Minho still didn’t want to talk to Newt. It was useless. He sighed and added, “You know what? Fine. If you’re not gonna tell me about it, fine, but I’m not gonna stay with you.”

Newt propped his body using one hand as the other reached for his crutch, attempting to finish the argument and go out from the room. Minho immediately unveiled his blanket and shifted around to let his leg down from the bed, “Isaac.”

But once again Newt snapped, now much harsher than before. He raised his finger pointing at Minho, a gesture Newt always did when he was beyond mad.

“Stop looking at me like you don’t know what I’m talking about, Minho! Do you think I believed you when you said you were attacked by a bloody burglar?”

If Minho ever thought he was stupid, he was so damn right. Newt’s eyes weren’t filled with rage; instead Minho only found sadness and fear. But again, he didn’t expect the next words coming from Newt’s lips.

“Do you really think I know nothing about that man? That he is the same guy who shot me in the first place?”

 _Wait what?_ Minho’s brain started to panic, _how did Newt find out?_ Was it Ben? Or did he find the threat letter? Did Minho put it in his bag? Oh God, he was so stu–

“You really think I’m that oblivious?” Newt asked again with a much deeper voice – calmer but deeper nonetheless, cutting Minho’s train of thoughts. The blonde closed his eyes and flinched as if he remembered something, and once again Minho felt like a total idiot. The realization hit him hard as he whispered his disbelief, “No.”

Newt scoffed again, sadder this time, “Yes, Minho, I know. It’s not that difficult to connect the dots, you know?”

Before Minho could say anything, Newt turned to reach his bag and rummaging inside it. He retrieved a stack of papers before walking towards Minho’s bed and put the papers all over Minho’s bed. What Minho saw wasn’t exactly what he had in mind when Newt said he knew something. On his bed, at least two dozens of letters were addressed to Newt, all with similar messages. All was filled with awful, horrible, threatening messages. Minho ran his palms over his face and mumbled, “Since when?”

The blonde shrugged like it was nothing, “A year or so, but he never did anything until that day when he shot me and hit me until I got this bloody limp.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“And what? Let you risking your life for me? Like hell I would, Min,” Newt answered sadly. Honestly, Minho was furious. Newt could’ve told him, and then he could protect Newt from whoever it was. Newt sighed, running his hand through the golden locks again, “I didn’t tell you, yeah, and when you finally found out, look what happened to you.”

“I’m fine!” Minho snapped. Newt flinched, but he didn’t want to back out from the argument, “You are not, Minho! You didn’t sleep for days to watch me, and you barely ate. You suffered because of me. That man was – _is_ – after me, Min, and you were on his way. I can’t let him hurt you more than this. That’s another reason I need to move back to my own place.”

“Yeah, like hell I’ll let –”

“Like hell I need your permission.”

The tension thickened each second, and none of them said anything. Minho finally stood from his bed and took steps to Newt. He carefully put his arms around the blonde, “Newt, I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you, I really am. But do you ever realize that I want it? That I want to protect you?”

Newt put his head on Minho’s board chest. His voice was cracking again, but the anger and disappointment from before had totally disappeared. Minho could only heard tiredness from the blonde, “I don’t want you to get hurt like this, Min, I can’t.”

“Isaac, look at me,” Minho propped his hands on Newt’s cheek forcing Newt’s eyes to meet Minho’s, “I won’t let him hurt me and I won’t let him touch you either, you get me?”

“But –”

“Look, let’s make a promise. You let me protect you until you meet your soulmate and I promise I won’t keep anything from you anymore, you will be the first one to know everything –”

“Until you meet yours?” Newt asked with a sad smile. Minho nodded, returning the same sad smile Newt had. The blonde contemplated before finally agreeing to Minho and whispered, “Yeah, deal.”

“Good that,” Minho hugged his friend again. He was stroking Newt’s hair when he remembered something, “Also, I’m gonna pretend that you didn’t say anything about moving back to your apartment. Instead, you’re going to move in with me, we’ll pick the rest of your things next weekend.”

Newt didn’t say anything, he couldn’t, and he didn’t know what to say. Minho still didn’t want him to move back even after all the arguments Newt gave him earlier. But Minho pushed in a much lighter tone making the blonde smiled, “Newt, the answer is, ‘yes, Minho, I’m going to move in with you’. Come on, say it, blondie.”

Newt chuckled and mocked him, “Yeah, okay, yes, Minho, I’m going to move in with you.”

* * *

Things were starting back to normal after that. Minho's leg was healing fast and the doctor said he'd be fine, which made the man smirked smugly to Newt all the way home. Newt told Minho and Ben the information he had about the attacker, which wasn't much, but Ben thanked him for being helpful. He also didn't need his crutch to walk even though the limping didn't give any sign to leave anytime soon. But he managed to walk without hurting, so he took it as good news. Probably as good as the time Harriet called him.

The woman called to ask his well-being, as usual, but he knew it was about time that she'd call to ask when Newt would be back to the labs. And as much as he enjoyed living a free life with Minho, he still felt lonely sometimes, especially when Minho was out for work. Besides, he needed money. He couldn't let Minho paying for their daily needs any more than he already had. So he told Harriet that he's going back to work soon, which was, as Harriet demanded, two weeks after the call.

“I'm pretty sure one of many reasons I haven't met my soulmate is because Man-Labs imprisoned me for 24/7,” Newt said one day. It was a few days after Newt confirmed Harriet that he’d be back to work soon. He was preparing ice cream for their dessert and Minho was washing the dishes. The later raised his eyebrow without turning, “You love working there.”

“I did! I mean, I do, but I want to go out too. The last time I went out after work, I got hit by a homicidal lunatic! I just want to go out without worrying a car will hit me, I want to date people, and I want to be in love.”

Minho chuckled at Newt's dreamy voice, “So go date someone.”

“Yeah, like that will be so easy.”

“It _is_ easy,” Minho smirked as he dried out his hands. Newt scoffed; of course Minho would think it was easy. Back when they were still in high school, everyone had their eyes for Minho, the captain of the track team. Girls were drooling over, boys were trying to befriend him – while some wanted more than that, and even the teachers admired Minho's brain. If Minho ever flirted with anyone, Newt was pretty sure they'd say yes without even thinking.

Newt sighed as he gave Minho his ice cream, “Actually, you were right, it can be easy. How about you?”

“Huh?”

“We both haven't met each other's soulmate yet, so why don't I take you on a date?”

The spoon at Minho's hand stopped moving as the man stared at his friend. He put down the bowl and approached Newt before cupping the blonde's forehead, “Do you need to see a doctor?”

“Oh, come on, Min,” Newt swatted Minho's away who chuckled and picked his bowl before sitting on the bar chair. He ate a spoonful of ice cream as Newt said, “Please? Let's just pretend we are soulmates for a day. It can be just movie or dinner or do whatever you want to do.”

Newt was pleading as he sat next to Minho who got lost in his own thought. _Shuck, it wasn't supposed to be hurt,_ Minho told his heart. He really wanted to say no, he didn't even know he could control himself upon pretending to be Newt's soulmate. He couldn't afford to lose their friendship, could he? But before he opened his mouth, Newt added, “And I'll pay.”

Minho sighed, he should've known by now that he couldn't say no to Newt, “No.”

“Miiin,” Newt whined, but Minho quickly added, “No, I'll pay.”

“Wait, is that a yes?”

Minho gave the blonde a fake sigh, “Yes, Isaac, let's go on a date.”

He didn't know his words could make Newt beaming so brightly at him. At the time, he didn't even want to pretend, and he felt like he would probably beat Newt's future soulmate to death so he could have Newt for himself. He swore he would.

Minho smiled. Yeah, now he was sure he could do anything if it meant he got to see Newt smiling at him.


	5. Best Thing I Never Had

Minho was torn. He really wanted to make his date with Newt special, but he was afraid he’d cross the line. He didn’t even know where the line stood between him and Newt, but he was sure it was there somewhere.

He was thinking about taking Newt to Central Park and have a picnic there or something like that, but it was early December and he didn’t want Newt to suffer from cold. And it was outdoor, Minho wasn’t gonna risk their date ruined by Newt’s lunatic fan. He might’ve chosen his second option, and Newt might not like it, but then again, what the hell, right? It wasn’t like Minho would get another chance to take Newt on a date.

“I am going back to work because I don’t want to be a burden for you and then you did this?” Yep, Minho was right. Newt didn’t like it and now he felt stupid.

“And I said you aren’t a burden, Newton.”

“What were you thinking, Minho?”

Now _that_ wasn’t one of the questions Minho expected Newt to ask. The man sighed, “I just wanted to do something nice for you, but if you don’t like it we can just return the tickets and go somewhere else before dinner.”

Newt went silence for a moment, the frown showing that he was thinking about what Minho just said.

“Let’s say we return the tickets, why do we need to go somewhere else? Why don’t we go straight to dinner?”

“Because the reservation is not until seven,” Minho said making the blonde’s eyes widened. He caught Newt’s lips opened before closing again, so he decided to ask, “Newt?”

“What do you mean by reservation? What reservation?” Newt’s voice was a note higher than usual. Minho was screwed. He mumbled, “Uh, Jean-Georges?”

“WHAT?!”

So yeah, there went Minho’s plan. He was going to take Newt to watch Finding Neverland on Broadway and afterwards they’d have dinner at Jean-Georges. _Brilliant idea, Minho, good job_ , he thought. Minho didn’t tell Newt where they were going and once they parked the car in front of the theatre, Newt didn’t like it. _Some stupid shank you are, Minho_. He had shucked up his only chance to go on a date with the blonde. Minho gripped the wheel harder than necessary before saying, “Look Newt, if you don’t want it, I get it. We can just return the tickets and I’ll cancel the reservation and we can go wherever you want, okay?”

“I’ll be lying if I say I don’t want this,” _Oh._ “This is by far the sweetest thing anyone have ever done for me, Min, you know that. But –”

“But what?”

“I don’t deserve it, Minho. You should treat your soulmate with this, not your childhood friend who forced you to go on a date,” _OH._ Okay, now Minho got it.

“You are my soulmate, Newt,” Minho said. He chuckled at Newt’s confused face, letting another frown decorating his forehead. _Shuck._ The dark-haired man hoped his voice didn’t come out shaky, “You said, and I quote, ‘Let’s just pretend we are soulmates for a day’, right?”

Newt groaned as he rubbed his face, “I did say that, didn’t I?”

“Yup. So now what, soulmate? Are we returning the tickets or –”

“There’s no way I’m skipping Finding Neverland and Jean-Georges, Minho. You know that,” Newt cut Minho’s words with a pink tint on his cheeks. Minho grinned and turned off the car, “Good that.”

The rest of the date went smoothly and Minho was glad that Newt enjoying the day. When they were finally home and ready to split to their own room, Newt stopped him, “Min?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“No prob–” But Newt was faster, he yanked Minho’s arm and kissed his cheek before bolting out to his room. Minho didn’t move. He couldn’t move. He needed time to calm his beating heart and once he did, he cursed himself. _It was only a kiss, Minho, on the shucking cheek. Stop acting like a high school girl and get your klunk together!_

* * *

Minho spent the rest of Newt’s off days by trying so hard not to blush over little things Newt did. Avoiding the blonde wasn’t a choice or else Newt would get him because of it, again. And he didn’t want that.

He sighed, falling in love sucks.

“It sure does,” Newt chimed in as he came from his room. Shuck, Minho cursed himself. He didn’t realize he had said it out loud.

“You too? That guy from high school?” Minho asked. If he didn’t want Newt to know his feeling, he should’ve distracted the blonde.

Newt rolled his eyes, as if saying I-know-what-you-did-there-Minho but still answered, “Nah, I don’t have a bloody chance with him.”

“Huh, why? He met his soulmate already?”

“I don’t think so. But he loves somebody else, Min, a pretty girl from his office or something,” Newt said as he sat next to Minho. It was Saturday evening and they didn’t have any plan since Newt said he had to prepare some documents for when he came back to work. The blonde had spent the day in the room before finally joining Minho in the living room.

“You didn’t know that,” Minho said as he flicked the TV remote absent-mindedly.

“Of course I know that,” Newt snuggled closer to Minho as he put his head on Minho’s shoulder. The blonde shrugged, “I’ve been to his office a couple times and those girls are simply beautiful. I’m not surprised if he ends up with one of them. But I don’t think his boss would like it if co-workers –”

“Wait hold on, are you saying that he lives in New York? You’ve met him?” Minho turned his body as Newt grunted for making him move his head and answered, “Yeah, he lives in New York.”

“Holy klunk!”

“Minho –”

“We don’t have  _that_ many friends from high school who lives in New York.”

“Min, don’t –”

“IS IT SIGGY?” Minho’s eyes widened for a second before Newt whacked his face using one of the pillows. Siggy, indeed, had some beautiful waiters working for him. Minho grimaced, “Ow!! What was that for?”

“Shut up, I’m not telling you in a million years.”

“Why are you being so mean to me?” That earned Minho another whack in the face. “Hey!”

“Shut up, Minho,” Newt changed his position so now he hugged the pillow, “Why don’t you tell me about her?”

“Her?”

“Yeah, her, you know, ‘falling in love sucks’,” Newt said with a mocking tone, copying Minho’s words earlier.

“Oh! Her!” _You’re the shuckiest shuck-face shuck there ever was, Minho_. “Yeah, not telling you that either.”

“Oh come on, Min,” Newt pouted, making Minho’s wall almost fall. He swallowed hard, “Nope.”

“I thought you said you will tell me everything?”

“Uh, yeah, well, this one is reserved for when you’re ready to trade the information, Mr. Newton.”

Newt huffed, muttering how Minho was the one who was being mean to him, but didn’t push again making Minho felt relief. They spent a good five-minutes watching the rerun of Friends when Newt mumbled, “It does suck, doesn’t it?”

Minho’s eyes turned to look at the blonde whose eyes stuck on the TV before sighing, “Of course it does. We are both 28 and we haven’t met our soulmates, and on Saturday we stuck with each other pitying our non-existent love lives.”

“Great, what a way to summarize it, Minho,” Minho didn’t need to turn to see Newt rolling his eyes. He chuckled bitterly, “You’re welcome.”

“So, you wanna go out? Thomas’ bar? Express Brook?”

“I’m actually okay with staying in,” _With you_ , Minho thought. _Except you don’t want to, right?_ “But, I mean, I’ll go, if you want to?”

_You are so shucking whipped, Minho._

“Nah. Don’t tell Siggy about this, but I prefer Chinese takeout from downstairs over his rich-of-taste food.”

“I’ll definitely tell him that,” Minho’s smirk immediately disappeared as Newt gave him the third whack of the day. “Newton!”

“What?”

“This place is violent-free,” Minho said making Newt chuckled, mumbling _no it’s bloody not, Minho_.

“Have you bought your Christmas presents for our parents?” Newt asked again after a moment making Minho groaned indicating that he hadn't bought anything for anyone. Newt’s eyes still on TV but his lips tugged into a smirk, “Oh, also I heard that Olivia, Harry, and the twins will come as well, are you ready?”

Minho groaned again. He loved Olivia and her family, he really did. But seriously though, the twins loved him _too_ much they wouldn’t let Minho away even for a bathroom break. Newt, who sat beside him, laughed, and that time Minho felt that _whatever_ , you know, the twins could do anything they wanted to him and he’d try his hardest not to die as long as Newt kept laughing with him, or at him, he didn’t mind much really.

* * *

_Knock-knock-knock._

Minho and Newt looked at each other when they heard someone knocked their door. It was a day before they flew back to Denver to visit their parents for Christmas and of course they didn’t expect any company.

With a frown on his forehead, Newt opened the door, revealing a slightly out-of-breath Ben in front of it.

“Newton! Hey, how are you?” The man said as he hugged Newt who just stood there in confusion even though he still responded the man’s greeting. In a split second, Minho’s face appeared to the porch, “What the shuck are you doing here?”

“Okay, everyone calm down, alright?” Newt could recognize a slight panic from Ben’s voice. He turned to Minho, “Min, why don’t you take Ben inside, I’ll make us some drinks.”

When Newt returned to the living room, he didn’t expect the tension to be really thick. Ben’s face now clearly showed that he was nervous and Newt was sure that Minho was beyond furious. He put down the tray and sat beside Minho before asking, “What’s going on?”

“You might want to tell Newt what you’ve told me before,” Minho’s voice was so, so low, indicating he was actually furious. Ben nodded, “We found his identity, Newt.”

Newt was stunned, he totally had forgotten about the attacker since he went on a date with Minho. He opened his mouth, “How, why – who?”

And Ben told him. Ben told him how a name had matched his investigation, from the list he got from the Clint Cunningham in the Subaru Company, from Winston’s list, and from Newt’s information. Ben told him that he had been looking for information about the man, who had deleted his data from any server he could find in New York City, who no longer had family around him. The man’s wife was dead three years ago. And the man’s son said, and Ben quoted, _my father went crazy after my mother died, he started beating me up so I left the house and went to my aunt who put me in a custody, I never heard anything from him since then_.

And moreover, Ben told him about the letters that came to his old apartment since he moved out. Ben showed him all the ugly threatening letters. Ben showed him what the man said in the letters about his family, about his friends, and about Minho. _Oh my God, Minho_. Newt shivered when he read one specific letter where the man said he was going to hurt Minho,  _his_ Minho. He teared up, heart clenching inside his chest; even though Minho, his Minho, the very much alive Minho, was right next to him, arm circling Newt’s body, hand patting Newt’s arm, lips pressing against Newt’s temple, mouth whispering _it’s okay, Newt, I’m here, I’ll protect you, I promise_.

Newt tried to remember any faces to match with the name, he really did. But he came up with none. When Ben finally left him and Minho in the apartment, he was stuck staring at the capitalized front printed on the paper Ben left for them.

The blonde wondered, what did he ever do to the man that made him wanted to kill Newt? What did he ever do to the man whom Newt had no memory of meeting about? What did Newt ever do to Aiden J. Gillen?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to split this chapter into two because it was too much for one, so enjoy this please! The next one will be up in, I don't know, two or three days, perhaps?
> 
> And to anyone who guessed the attacker right, congratulations! :)  
> Also, be my guest, have you guys guessed Newt's third word? Any guesses?


	6. Seize The Day

“Have you told him?”

Those were the first words Sophia asked as soon as Minho came to the kitchen after she asked him to help her preparing the desserts.

“Tell who what?” Minho asked aimlessly as he poured a glassful of eggnog for himself. His mother shrugged, “Tell Isaac that you love him.”

Minho spurted out his drink, “What the shuck –”

“Language, Minho! No cursing under my roof,” Sophia warned him. She mumbled at how disgusting Minho was as she tossed a hand-towel to Minho, gesturing him to clean up his mess. The son scoffed, “Fine, what the hell? Why would I tell him that?”

“Because you love him,” Sophia rolled his eyes. Her son could be so shucking stupid sometimes.

“No, I don’t.”

“Yes, you do.”

“Do not.”

“Do too.”

“Mother!”

“Minho!”

Minho glared at his mother, but sighed in defeat. He could never lie to his mother anyway, like ever, “Fine, I do, but it’s not like he loves me too.”

 _Fine, maybe not just sometimes, maybe always_ , Sophia thought. “Are you an idiot? I don’t remember raising one.”

“Mom, please, he told me himself, okay? Can we drop it?”

“He told you that he doesn’t love you?”

“No, he told me he’s already in love with someone,” By now Minho had started decorating the cookies. Oh yes, it was a secret that stayed in the family – and the Newtons, Minho was good at baking things, especially cookies, _and_ decorating them with icing sugar.

“And you believed him?”

“Of course!”

Sophia rolled her eyes again; her son was a total idiot. She voiced, “You’re shucked up, Minho.”

“Mom! Language! I thought we agreed not to curse under this roof,” Minho turned at his mother in disbelief. Thanks to her, he messed up the icing sugar on one cookie. Sophia shrugged easily as she began cutting the pudding into pieces, “It’s my house, so I say what I want to say.”

“You are unbelievable,” Minho muttered.

“And you love Isaac, go tell him that.”

“Mom! Will you stop –” But of course, his mother had to cut him short right there by greeting the subject of the conversation, “Oh hey, Isaac!”

Newt’s smiling face suddenly came to Minho’s view, almost making him forget how to breathe. Newt greeted back, “Hey yourself, Sophia, what’s with the noise here? Is everything okay?”

“Of course, darling, Minho’s just being dramatic. Anyway, can you help him prepare the dessert? I need to get your presents,” Sophia asked Newt as she untied her apron. Newt just nodded and said sure, I’ll help as he replaced Sophia’s position. Minho scoffed, eyes and hands not leaving the cookies, “Yes, you go away, mother.”

Sophia scoffed back, “Rude. And thank you, Isaac.”

As soon as his mother left, Minho tried to relax, failing miserably so when doing it as he remembered what his mother told him about his feeling for the blonde next to him. Newt, on the other hand, of course, knew that something’s off with Minho, “Is everything okay?”

Minho gulped, “Yeah, my mom just being annoying.”

“What was she talking about?”

“She wasn’t talking, she was interrogating.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, you know, soulmates stuff, boyfriend-girlfriend stuff, when will I get married, blah, blah, blah. I mean, am I that old already?” Okay, now he lied again to Newt. He was pretty sure Newt knew though, but he didn’t know what else to tell the blonde without spilling any unneeded confession. Thankfully, Newt didn’t bring it up, “Ah, yeah, tell me about it.”

“Joanna too?”

“Pretty much, yeah, and Olivia too. It’s kinda confirming that we are that old already, huh?”

“I guess,” Minho shrugged. He squeezed the icing for the last cookie and grinned widely, proud of his own work. He untied his apron and asked Newt, “You done?”

“Yeah, let’s – oh, Min, wait,” Minho didn’t know how and when Newt moved closer to him, but the blonde was suddenly in front of him with a slight wet hand-towel on his hand. Newt carefully cleaned Minho’s face – that turned out was decorated with the icing – and said, “There, all clean.”

“Uh, thanks,” Minho was pretty sure his face turned red. His mother was right, he was shucked up.

“Oh, shuck, wait, I forgot something,” Minho said again. He opened the refrigerator and retrieved a pack of cherries. He pulled a couple and put them on the top of one of the glasses filled with hot chocolate, “Here you go.”

“You remember?” Newt’s eyes lightened up. He always preferred to have cherries with his hot chocolate. And even though the others sometimes mocked him for having weird taste, Minho never did and he always had a pack of cherries in his refrigerator, both in Denver and New York.

“Yeah, like you’ll let me forget.”

“Thanks, Min,” Newt beamed beautifully before pecking Minho’s cheek. The bigger man smiled back, trying his hardest not to blush.

 _Oh God, not again_ , Minho thought.

* * *

“Hey, Newt?” Minho called the blonde who sat next to him. Newt just hummed in response, telling Minho to keep talking, which he did, “What were you thinking?”

Minho’s parents had gone to bed early, Olivia and Harry went out to meet their friends, and the twins went home with Newt’s parents. So Minho and Newt were kinda stuck with each other, watching Christmas movies and waiting until midnight came. Minho didn’t mind, in fact he loved it, but Newt didn’t seem like he was enjoying the movies at all and it concerned Minho.

“You,” Newt said, eyes not leaving the screen making Minho’s heart beat a bit faster than usual. The blonde added sadly, “The attacker, our families, work, you, and everything.”

Minho ignored the fact that Newt mentioned him twice and scooted the blonde closer under his arm instead, “We will get him before you know it, okay?”

“Yeah,” Newt snuggled for a split second before abruptly standing up and rushing to the window, “Min, look, it’s snowing.”

“Yeah, and Christmas,” Minho said as he walked closer to Newt. The view of pouring snow outside was simply beautiful. Minho smiled as he messed the golden locks that belonged to Newt, “Merry Christmas, Isaac.”

Newt smiled back, giving another kiss on the cheek, “Merry Christmas, Minho.”

* * *

“There’s something weird with Newt,” Minho told Ben, voice full of worry.

Minho and Newt were back to New York to celebrate New Year’s Eve with their friends. Ben and Sonya were hosting, so Minho and Newt came early to help. Of course, Minho wasn’t much a helper, not-so-purposefully messing up so he and Ben could stay in the kitchen sipping beers.

Ben put his beer down, “What is it? Did he get another letter?”

“Well, no, actually it has nothing to do with that,” Minho actually didn’t know what he was trying to tell Ben. It was silly, if he thought about it again. Ben frowned, taking back the bottle from the counter.

“Oh, okay, then what’s weird?”

“Since, you know, ‘the date’, he kissed me a lot,” Minho said nervously. But apparently it was enough to make Ben choked on his beer and spitted his beer to the counter. Minho’s nose scrunched up, “Ben, that’s disgusting!”

“Sorry, man, but what the hell? You didn’t even tell me about it!”

“It wasn’t like that! They were just cheek-kisses, but –”

“A kiss, on the cheek? Why would he give you a cheek-kiss?”

“Why do you think I said he was being weird?”

“Because he loves you, Minho,” A soft voice came into the kitchen revealing Sonya’s presence. Minho scoffed, “No, he doesn’t, Sonya.”

Sonya rolled her eyes at Minho before pecking Ben’s cheek, whose eyes beaming with love, “Fine, whatever you say, big guy. Come on, everybody’s here.”

* * *

It was Valentine’s Day when Newt proposed to take Minho to another date, a brunch date. They had been busy for work since New Year and Newt thought it’d be nice for them to enjoy a day out with each other. He took Minho to Lafayette in Manhattan, a nice restaurant that served plenty of food from pastry to seafood.

“Wow, what a nice place,” Minho commented once they ordered the food. Newt grinned back to him, “Well, I tried to keep up with the last time.”

“That’s not necessary, but thanks for taking –”

But Minho’s words were cut by three loud bangs coming from where he assumed was the kitchen.

“EVERYONE, GET DOWN!” A man with a black mask around his face suddenly came from the kitchen and yelled out to the customers. Minho felt like he’d heard the voice before, but where? The man pointed the gun to the people as they all, Minho and Newt included, went down under the table, “You don’t want to do anything stupid or I’ll pull a trigger to your head.”

“What’s happening?” Newt whispered to Minho, jolting him from his attempt to remember the masked-man’s voice. He did remember it though; he sounded very much like the man from the alley. Minho balled his fist before turning to Newt and whispered back, “Newt, listen to me. I’ll distract him, you’ll sneak out, find a safe place, and then you’ll call Ben and tell him to come as soon as possible, okay?”

“No.”

“Newt –”

“I don’t want to leave you here!”

“Newt, you don’t have any choice,” Minho tried to calm his voice, but Newt was sniffling in front of him, chanting _no_ over and over again.

“Isaac, listen to me! I don’t want to risk anyone’s life and I need you with me,” Minho gripped Newt’s arms and forced the blonde to see him in the eyes, “I need you to do it, please, Isaac.”

Newt just nodded, pecking Minho’s cheek, and whispered to Minho, _come back to me_. Minho counted to three before sliding himself to behind the table next to him. The masked-man let out another bullet to the table, missing a few inches before it could hit Minho, and yelled, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Minho had to distract the man, “Nothing, I was just cramped under that table so I thought –”

“You little shit! Stand up, show me your face,” The masked man said, but Minho didn’t move, only side-eyeing Newt who successfully sneaked out without anyone noticing. He knew it would make the man pissed, but –

_Bang! Bang!_

“Okay, okay, fine, geez,” Minho said lifting his arms up and stood. The tone of the man’s voice suddenly changed to an amusement, “Well, well, well, isn’t it the precious Minho Park.”

“I don’t know I am _that_ famous, but sorry man, I don’t know you,” Minho fake sighed. _He knew the man, didn’t he?_ The man confirmed it by revealing his face. Minho thought he gulped at the sight, “Nope, still don’t recognize you.”

“Of course you don’t,” The man smirked before adding, “My name is Janson. Aiden Janson Gillen.”

 _It’s really him_ , Minho thought. He barged towards the man, “You –”

_Bang!_

Another shot towards the table next to Minho. _Damn it._ Minho cursed himself for not bringing a gun with him. The man, Janson, grinned like a lunatic, “Ah, I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

“What do you want?”

“Where is Newton?”

“Like hell I’m telling you, Mr. Psycho Bastard.”

“He’s outside, isn’t he? Come on, lead the way,” Janson smirked, motioning Minho to move towards the exit door from the kitchen. As soon as they reached the alley, Minho elbowed the man, making the gun fell from his hand, before running towards the block. But he wasn’t fast enough; Janson immediately picked his gun and aimed a bullet to Minho’s shoulder. Luckily, being trained in NYPD brought him some pretty good reflex. He dodged a second before the bullet grazed his left arm, tearing the skin, letting out a prick of blood.

But what hurt more was the sting that suddenly came to his wrist. He cursed his body, like seriously, why did it have to be crossed at a time like this?

“How dare you, Mr. Park,” Janson’s voice was full of anger as he added, “Now, where is he?”

“You’re crazy if you think I’m telling you that, Rat-Man,” _Okay, maybe you should cut with the nickname, Minho_.

“You don’t know a thing about me, aren’t you?” Minho wondered why every time Janson talked, his wrist hurt him more and more, throbbing like crazy. He wondered if it was just his body trying to fight the pain which caused more pain, or it was his body telling him to actually do what the word said. But if it was crossed, that meant he’d done the word, right? _Right?_

He wasn’t going to do it again. He had to face the man. Minho wasn’t going to _run_. He pressed his other palm to his wrist, “I know you’re a lunatic.”

“Where is Newton?!” Janson yelled.

“What’s your problem with him anyway?”

“He killed my wife.”

Minho scoffed, even though inside he wondered why the man could say such thing, “You’ve got to be kidding me. There’s no way someone like him killed your wife, or anyone, ever.”

“He killed Ava. I loved her, and he killed her.” Janson’s eyes were filled with rage. Minho had to think tactically, like, now. As far as Minho counted, Janson had let out seven bullets out of the gun and Walther-P38 could only hold eight. It meant, Janson only had one bullet left. He calmly gave the man a fake sigh, “Didn’t you hear a single thing I say? I said there’s no way –”

“I didn’t kill your wife, Mr. Janson,” A very familiar voice cut Minho short form his back, making his eyes widened. Okay, he did not expect that. _What the shuck, Newt?_

“Newton,” Minho never saw a man looked like a lunatic more like Janson looked like right now. He smirked widely, eyes darkened, and his grip tightened with the gun pointing at the blonde. Janson growled, “I’m so glad you remember me.”

Newt was calm, which wasn’t like the usual Newt, at all. Newt took a step closer to Janson next to Minho, his eyes were filled with sadness when he said, “At first, I didn’t recognize the name. But as soon as I see you, I know it’s you, Mr. Janson.”

“And I believe it’s time for revenge, Newton.”

“Mr. Janson, I –”

“YOU KILLED MY WIFE!”

“She died because of the Flare, Mr. Janson. We didn’t have a cure, we still don’t. She –”

_BANG!!_

Newt’s heart jumped out when Janson pulled the trigger. He abruptly looked down to his stomach where Janson pointed the gun earlier. But there was nothing there. He looked up again to see where the gun was actually pointed by Janson, only to find his view’s blocked by a broad figure he knew so well.

_Minho._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy holiday, dear folks! :)


	7. Words I Never Said

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did it! I made the thing! I finished it! And you made it! You've been so kind to me, letting me write this. I love you! :D  
> Please enjoy this, I'll meet you guys some other time if I ever write another fic. I'll do better if I get a chance. :)

It all happened really fast. One second Newt was trying to talk to Janson and the next second Minho slowly fell into his knees in front of him. Janson pulled another trigger aiming another shot to Minho’s stomach – _which would fail_ , Minho thought, _he used all the bullets already_ – before Ben finally appeared and pinned the man down. Newt could also hear him yelling to a young officer named Jeff to call an ambulance.

Newt turned his attention back to Minho and carefully placed the man’s head down on his lap. He was panicking, “Minho, stay with me, okay? You’re gonna be fine, I swear you will, Min.”

“Newt, hey, hey, look at me,” Minho pressed one hand on his stomach where the bullet lodged while the other hand reaching up to hold Newt’s, “I wasn’t gonna say it, but I might pass out soon and I probably won’t get a chance to talk to you for a while in my coma –”

Minho’s breath shortened, “– but I love you, okay? I always do.”

“No, no, no, Minho, no, please stay with me. I kinda figured that out a long time ago, so please –” But then Newt suddenly flinched at the same time he heard Minho groaning on his lap. He was about to see his own hand, but Minho was faster. The dark-haired man lifted Newt’s hand and smiled upon reading the third crossed word from Newt’s wrist, _try_.

“I knew it,” Minho smiled in relief as he pulled Newt’s wrist to his lips. Then he kissed it, again and again, as if trying to throw the pain away, and once again, ignoring the pain on his own wrist, where the word ‘ _confess’_ was crossed off. But for an obvious reason, Newt’s eyes went wet, “No.”

“I always knew you’re my soulmate, Newt, I’m sorry you don’t end up with that guy you love,” Newt could see a prick of tears coming out of Minho’s dark eyes. Why didn’t he realized it before, that Minho loved him _that_ much the entire time, that they actually loved each other probably since they first met? Why didn’t they do anything about their love? Newt always thought that Minho’s feeling was only temporary. He sobbed, “Stop, Min.”

“Yeah, I know you still love him –” Minho tried to understand, he really did. He loved Newt so much that he wanted Newt to fell loved, even if it wasn’t from the lucky guy. He was surprised that the jealousy towards the guy disappeared instantly as soon as the bullet lodged him. But Newt didn’t let him continue his words and cut, “It was you, Minho! It _is_ you.”

“Really?” Minho asked with the biggest smile he could muster. The blonde just nodded with tears streaming down his face, chanting _it’s you, it’s always you, I love you, Minho_.

Minho breathed again, “To think, all this time I’ve been jealous of the guy you loves and your future soulmate. But apparently I got jealous of myself, didn’t I?”

Minho lifted his hand again to cup Newt’s cheek, pulling the blonde down into a deep kiss. It tasted weird, Minho decided. The metallic taste from the blood mixed with salty tears. But then again, it was intoxicating, probably because it’s Newt’s. The kiss didn’t last as long as Minho wanted as he was already out of breath before. Newt hesitantly pulled away from him, almost whining at the loss of contact. But he did pull away, knowing Minho was out of breath, _realizing that Minho was out of breath._ The tears on Newt’s face didn’t even stop for one beat.

Slowly losing his strength, Minho chuckled, “I am really dying, aren’t I? There’s no coma for me, but –”

“No, no, no, please stop talking. Stay with me, Min, please, the ambulance is on their way.”

“– at least I die without breaking my promise.”

> _“Look, let’s make a promise.”_

“Stop talking, please, you stay with me, Minho,” Newt whimpered.

> _“You let me protect you **until** you meet your soulmate.”_

“Newt.”

> _“And I promise I won’t keep anything from you, you will be the first one to know everything –”_

“No, please, Min.”

> _“ **Until** you meet yours?”_

“Isaac,” Minho’s voice was calm, and it really bothered Newt.

> _“Yeah, deal.”_

_Shuck_. Newt shouldn’t agree with the deal, now he was gonna lose Minho, his best friend, his first and only love, his soulmate, his everything, his Minho. And before he knew it, Minho breathed out his last words.

“I’m sorry, I love you.”

**\---**

There was a tale about purpose and soulmate. Each person in the world was meant to do something. Their fate was permanently written on their wrist where no one else could see it if it hadn’t been crossed yet. People were born immortal with three things they should do. The third thing on the list was the most important. When they managed to cross them off, their immortal life would be gone and immediately they would find their soulmate. Two souls who were bound to be together always had their third thing crossed in the same time. The sting would hurt the most compared to the previous ones, but no one could complain either.

Except it wasn’t a tale at all.

It happened in real world. Some people were lucky enough to meet their soulmates on the young age. Some was known for waiting for half a century.

Isaac Newton used to consider himself as a lucky one; he got his first word, _move_ , crossed when he was six years old. It was the day when his parents brought him to United States from England, when he met his first friend in the country.

Twelve years later, thinking that he was lucky felt ridiculous. Lucky people didn’t wait twelve years until the next word was crossed. His second word, _love_ , appeared on his wrist with a line across it when he was eighteen, the day before his high school graduation ceremony. He spent the night crying – ignoring the fresh blood leaking out from the mark – and blubbering over the fact he was gonna be separated from his best friend, his crush, his love.

Ten years after that, he found himself as the guy who had the worst luck in history. When his third word was crossed off, he was with his best friend, Minho, whose third word was crossed too. He should be happy that he finally met his soulmate in Minho, but he didn’t. Not when the immortality was finally taken from both of them, not when Minho’s breath shortened each time he said ‘I love you’ to Newt, not when Minho surrendered and gave his life to death instead of falling into a deep coma.

**\---**

There was a tale about purpose and soulmate. Each person in the world was meant to do _something_.

Except for Newt, he was supposed to try, as what his third word said. He tried, but he failed. No soulmate, no Minho. He felt like he might have no life as well. He knew should’ve **_tried_** harder. But again, he _failed_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't kill me.

**Author's Note:**

> Let's finger-cross so I don't get lazy and finish this one~
> 
> P.S. Thanks for reading it - even if it's not good!


End file.
